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A Blending Case
Study
Blending ores from multiple stockpiles is a common
mining operation. Most mines rely on spreadsheet-
based calculations to program blends for processing
feeds. These stockpile drawdown schedules often owe
more to intuition than science, making for unreliable
forecasts and lost profit opportunities.
MineCo's Manganese mining and processing operation
included multiple pits, grades, products, and other
factors that made production forecasting particularly
difficult.
XempleX created an automated blending solution for
MineCo to calculate optimum blends and production
forecasts for the entire life of mine (LOM). Reports
were presented in a familiar format, but all data
consolidation and calculations were managed in the
flexible and controlled XempleX environment.
The solution was extremely cost-effective, paying for
itself almost immediately through increases in
production efficiency.


Introduction
A complex mining
and recovery
operation.
MineCo has a large Australian Manganese (Mn) mining and recovery
operation. Their site has a large number of working pits producing
seven types of ore, all transported to a common stockpiling area.
Each ore type is classified by Mn grade, contaminant content (P, Pb,
Fe, Al
2
O
3
and SiO
2
), and other physical properties, and is tagged by
colour. Each colour has different crushing requirements, which affects
equipment capacity calculations. Each colour also has different
recovery characteristics.
Optimise crusher
feeds and product
blends.
Processed product is stockpiled as High Grade (HG) or Low Grade
(LG) lump or fines. Customer orders for lump or fines of a specific
grade profile are fulfilled by blending from the HG and LG stockpiles
as required.
MineCo needed a system to calculate blending profiles to produce the
four base ore products with specific quality characteristics. Initial
attempts using spreadsheets depended heavily on operator knowledge
and their ability to estimate blending solutions. It could take several
days to run a single scenario for even a few years of mine operation.
Complete life of mine (LOM) simulations were impractical.
Reliable production
forecasts for the
entire LOM.
XempleX provided a solution to manage the blending requirements of
MineCo's multiple pits, 7 colours and 4 products. It was easy to use,
ran in a fraction of the time of the old solution, featured familiar report
types, minimised data entry, automated schedule import and
consolidation, and was easily extendable.
The availability of high quality information for the entire LOM made
it possible to make better planning decisions and increase revenue.
This paper describes how the XempleX solution consolidated mine
schedule information and devised a processing schedule to extract the
maximum amount of specified product over the entire LOM.
The company name "MineCo" is an alias. Data and reports have been
altered to protect commercial confidentiality.
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ROM feeds
Automated data
consolidation direct
from mine schedules.
The first and most simple data management task was to combine over
a dozen pit mining schedules into seven feeds, for each of the ore type
colours. This was achieved with an automated XempleX data import
and consolidation process. Displayed as a chart, this information
graphically illustrated how the schedules would combine over the
entire LOM.

Figure 1: Scheduled life of mine production of 7 ore types out of multiple pits.
It is clear that the schedules in this scenario would lead to uneven rates
of ore extraction. Whether this would have an impact on production
would be be revealed by the XempleX production forecasts.
ROM stockpiles
Understand stockpile
changes.
Ore stockpiles grow with mine operations and shrink with the
demands of processing. A simple schedule consolidation can show the
growth of stockpiles, but is not able to model drawdown.
The XempleX blending solution modelled both the growth and
drawdown of these stockpiles for the entire LOM.

In this example, "Red" is high grade ore always in demand for
crushing and blending. Around August 2011, the supply of Red ore is
forecast to outstrip the other feed colours, such that the amount mined
could not be used in the required product blends. The Red stockpile
will grow rapidly.

Figure 2: Red ROM stockpile closing balance for each month in LOM.
The next chart shows the behaviour of the "Blue" ore stockpile. This
report illustrates that there is rarely a surplus of Blue ore. An empty
stockpile may indicate an undersupply that limits blending options,
and results in the surplus Red as shown above.

Figure 3: Blue stockpile closing balance for each month in LOM.
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If the process feed forecast predicts that there will be insufficient ore
to process at full capacity, these ROM stockpile reports can be used to
identify which colour's lines of supply are the problem. It may then be
possible to adjust the mining schedules to compensate.
Find weaknesses in
supply.

Process feeds
Don't waste profits
by overshooting
grade targets.
The goal of the recovery and blending processes is to generate the
maximum quantity of product that is as close to minimum tolerances
as possible. Supplying higher grade material than the customer is
paying for is simply a waste of profits.
The first step is to specify product tolerances. These figures needed
only to be entered once for each scenario, using a simple form as
illustrated below. This single point of entry significantly reduced the
risk of error.

Figure 4: Sample product specifications for Manganese ore.
A multi-variate
blending algorithm.
The XempleX multi-variate blending algorithm was used to determine
the best available processing and recovery program to meet these
goals. It incorporated ROM feeds directly from the mine schedule, and
included practical operational limits such as crusher capacity. Both
crusher capacity and recovery calculations varied with the type of ore
feed.
A process feed chart displayed month-by-month blends for the entire
LOM.


Figure 5: Optimum process feed blends calculated to meet product quality characteristics.
Ideally, every month of production should run at maximum processing
capacity. This report allowed MineCo to identify the times where the
mine schedules would create shortages in processing feeds (see 2008,
2011 and 2013). This information could be used to modify the
schedule of one or more pits to ensure that the crusher works
continuously to capacity, and with the best blend.
Plan for maximum
production
capacity.
The figures for individual months could also be examined in detail.
The following chart shows the crusher throughput for July 2010.

Figure 6: Sample report of Crusher (process) feed blend forecast for the month of
July 2010, in Tonnes.

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Product feeds
Forecast product
quantity and
composition.
The XempleX blending solution was able to forecast the exact
quantities and composition of saleable product produced for each
month in the LOM. Composition profiles included both Mn content
and contaminant levels for Al
2
O
3
, Fe, P, Pb and SiO
2
.
In the following report, each horizontal bar shows the level of one
component within its own tolerance range. Mn should ideally be as
close to the minimum grade as possible, while contaminants may fall
anywhere within their individual tolerances.

Figure 7: Sample report of monthly product feed of Mn High Grade Lump and High
Grade Fines for July 2010.


Product stockpiles
LOM product
forecasts.
The final set of reports shows the forecast amounts of each product for
the entire LOM.
This sample chart shows the cumulative High Grade Lump Mn
production output under the proposed mine schedule.

Figure 8: High Grade Lump product stockpile over LOM.
It would take only minutes to recalculate these figures for a new
scenario based on different quality parameters, or for a different mine
schedule.
The future
Extend, expand,
improve. Easily.
This blending solution will be able to adapt easily and quickly to
changes to the mine, schedule, product parameters, or equipment
parameters. Additional reports and functionality can also be added as
required and without disruption to operational systems.
It can be extended through the production and supply chain to provide
additional blend process support in both planning and operations.
Potential applications include mine post processing, processing to
port, and port to ship.
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XempleX solutions can be deployed rapidly and are extremely
flexible. They can support different schedule formats, product quality
parameters, ore types or recovery calculations. Time scales and
reporting periods can be as long- or short-term as required.
Link blending,
forecasting and
revenue calculations
directly.
Conclusion
Maximise mining
profits.
Blending is an important mining operation, and getting it right can
help to maximise the potential of a mineral resource. In even relatively
simple operations, performing blending calculations with generic
desktop tools can be time consuming and inaccurate, both increasing
costs and reducing profits.
XempleX provided a life of mine blending solution that managed the
complexities of consolidated ROM feeds, and crusher and recovery
characteristics for multiple types of ore. For MineCo this significantly
increased their opportunities for profit.
XempleX business
solutions are cost-
effective, efficient
and flexible.
XempleX can provide dependable solutions for integrating and
consolidating financial, accounting, geotechnical, and processing data
associated with mining and resources industries. In partnership with
industry specialists, a XempleX solution can be created for any type of
organisation.
Contact your local XempleX consultant to discover how your
organisation can benefit from this new perspective in business
solution design.
Contact
To find out more about XempleX solutions, or if you are interested in
becoming a XempleX consultant, contact:
XempleX Pty Ltd
Level 3, 220 St Georges Terrace
Perth, Western Australia 6000
AUSTRALIA

Telephone: +61 8 9480 1186
Facsimile: +61 8 9480 1199
Web: http://www.xemplex.com
E-mail: xemplex@xemplex.com



Published: Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Version: 1
Copyright 2005-2008 XempleX Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
XempleX, XempleX Professional, XempleX Enterprise Broker, Xemplet and the XempleX logo
family are trademarks of XempleX Pty. Ltd.
Windows and the Microsoft Excel logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and other countries.
AuthorIT is a trademark of AuthorIT Software Corporation Ltd.
All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.
XempleX technologies are protected by the following patents: South Africa 2002/3118.
International Patents Pending.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the
prior written permission of XempleX Pty Ltd.
This document was created by Stephanie Bateman-Graham using AuthorIT, Total Document
Creation.

XempleX Pty Ltd
Level 3, 220 St Georges Terrace
Perth
Western Australia 6000
AUSTRALIA
+61 -8 9480 1186
E-mail: xemplex@xemplex.com
Web: http://www.xemplex.com

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